As the sun prepares to set, it bounces off the slightly rusty iron sheets of a house tucked away in Wandegeya B village, Wandegeya parish in Kityerera sub county in Mayuge district. Metres away, a woman is tending to her banana garden overlooking the well tendered compound.
This is Faith Nangobi, a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilitator whose hygiene standards have also improved, because of among others of knowledge got from Lifewater International.
"Previously, we faced a challenge of diseases like Dysentery, trachoma and Cholera that mainly stemmed from poor sanitation habits. Not only in my home but the village at large, children and adults never took two months without getting infected," Nangobi says.
"While we had been told that this was because of poor hygiene, we improvised with makeshift latrines but the problem persisted."
She says this was the order of the day until 2017 when Lifewater International, an NGO was introduced to their area.
Nangobi says she is lucky, her parish was chosen among the beneficiaries and she was chosen as a WASH facilitator, which meant hers was chosen as a model home.
"We were trained what to do to improve our sanitation. We were asked to have well-constructed latrines, hand washing facilities after using the latrine, a facility for keeping rubbish, a clean container for keeping drinking water, plate stand to keep utensils until dry after washing among others. We were generally taught how to do hygiene."
She says apart from this, her home was to be a springboard for promotion of hygiene in her village as she would teach what she had learnt to her neighbours.
Nangobi says whereas many didn't like the new idea, with time, they embraced it and are living to reap the benefits.
"I am happy to note that whereas there was an outbreak of Cholera in this area, all households that listened to the WASH message were spared by the disease. The outbreak was a blessing in disguise as many other households who were despising our WASH message realised the problem was because of their hygiene and since then, they have improved."
"Since the coming of Lifewater International, I swear to God, our lives have changed completely."
Rev George Steven Ogwang is the parish priest for Wandegeya parish who says he was approached by the NGO to preach the gospel of sanitation and hygiene among believers.
To this, he says he was made the chairperson of at least 31 other churches from the Pentecostals, Orthodox and Catholics to implement sanitation and hygiene.
"What a church leader says, people dont question and this has helped us spread the gospel of WASH. People have responded to our messages and put in practice good hygienic practices. All people around have good latrines," he says.
Emmanuel Curuma, Country Director of Lifewater International Uganda."At first they couldn't see benefit of Lifewater but when they say Church asked that people listen to the message of WASH, even the poorest homes have well-constructed pit latrines, plate stands and proper places to dispose of rubbish, unlike before."
He says a borehole was also constructed at the Church to benefit the community.
"Due to the clean water problem, we were chanced to receive a borehole. Previously we could fetch water around midnight or 3am when the people had reduced. During the day, many people would converge at single water point but this was eased."
Near Rev.Ogwang's church is Wandegeya Church of Uganda Primary School, also a beneficiary of Lifewater.
Samuel Batema is the headmaster at the school with over 850 learners and is a beneficiary of a two latrine blocks with 17 stances that he says has changed fortunes for the school.
"We were badly off until we got assistance by Lifewater. The latrine stances were very few and almost filled up. Children were struggling with one another to go to the latrine. One had to wait for the other to get out and also use the latrine which meant that much time was spent. This time round we even have special facilities for learners with special needs which is a good idea. The latrines are modern with very many stances," Batema says.
He says the fortunes were further changed with the digging of the borehole at the school.
"Children used to long distances to the nearby borehole. Learners would spend a lot of time as they had to wait for villagers to finish fetching and on many occasions could miss lessons," Batema says.
Some of the facilities constructed by Lifewater International Uganda,He adds that the borehole has meant that the school has enough water for even girls in the menstruation periods to always be clean.
"Previously, many of our girls could miss school during menstruation days because there wasn't enough water to clean themselves. This has however changed."
Lawrence Makubo is a water user committee chairperson for Bubarule A , Manga zone, in Kityerera sub county .
The committee is charge of looking after boreholes constructed by LifeWater International in the different communities
"While previously we shared water with animals from ponds, the construction of boreholes helped change everything for us. We were trained on how to dig proper pit latrines, rubbish pits and how to ensure hygiene."
He says that the water source in his area serves 58 households.
"The members of the water user committee are trained by Lifewater on how to protect the borehole. The committee is also in charge of collecting funds to be used for repairs. For example, households contribute shs1000 each which is kept in the bank and in case of breakdown, the money is withdrawn and pay for repairs."
Nicholas Esagala is a nurse at Kitovu health centre II who says unlike before, cases of communicable diseases reported to the facility have reduced following the introduction of water, sanitation and hygiene services by Lifewater.
"Statistics show there has been a great reduction in the number of cases in terms of communicable diseases received at this facility .The households have been encouraged to ensure hygiene, construct proper latrines and consumption of clean water. Because this place is surrounded by water bodies, hygiene was one of the big problems faced. Lifewater International has changed the fortunes,"Esagala says.
He says that people have since shifted from using water from the lake to drawing it from boreholes.
According to Emmanuel Obia Curuma, the Lifewater International Uganda Country Director, they focus on ensuring they change lives of locals through sanitations.
"Our approach is to work, house-to-house, village to village, and school-to-school within the target area, ensuring that every person is reached and equipped to improve their health. We are specifically paying much attention to building and changing community mindsets through community conversations and transformations,"Curuma said.
He noted that since inception in 2017, the Lifewater International has served 50,746 people across 138 villages in Mayuge, which has seen an increase in access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities.
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The number of health homes has risen to 7,749, while the number of Open Defecation-Free communities has jumped to 138, up from a few in 2017.
The project also added 161 water points to the community and institutions.
Lifewater International has also constructed 50 latrine blocks while at least 287 church leaders have been trained in WASH issues, leading to a significant increase in health churches with decent latrines and water points, now standing at 59.
"Our work really focuses on mindset and behavior change of the community members. All the other things you see, such as water points and modern latrines, are the last bit of our work. The real work is on mindset and ensuring that we change the behavior of the people to adopt healthy living practices,"Curuma said.
Speaking during the commissioning of completed projects in Kityerera sub county, Lukia Isanga Nakadama, the Mayuge Woman MP and Third Deputy Prime Minister commended Lifewater International for its life-changing projects.
"Improved menstrual hygiene facilities will continue enable girls to stay in school. Previously, girls would often miss school due to lack of access to clean water during their menstrual cycles. These projects are a relief," Nakadama said.
She urged locals to own the projects to ensure their sustainability.
"It's not Lifewater's project; it's ours because these schools are ours," she stressed.
Nakadama encouraged other NGOs to emulate Lifewater International's model to make impact in local communities.
